Uroburos

Posted: March 13, 2014

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:

Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.

Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.

Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.

Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.

% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.

Ranking:	11,604
Threat Level:	1/10
Infected PCs:	478

First Seen:	March 13, 2014
Last Seen:	October 9, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

Uroburos is a rootkit currently believed to be an upgraded variant of Agent.BTZ, a worm that played a central part in one of the most famous compromises of US military PC security. Along with endangering the United States, Uroburos also has been seen in measurable numbers throughout other countries, particularly Ukraine and Lithuania. As a multifaceted and multiple-component PC threat, Uroburos may endanger your PC by stealing information, installing other threat or opening backdoor vulnerabilities. Malware researchers advise using equally advanced anti-malware suites whenever finding and removing Uroburos is needed.

Uroburos: the Cyber Snake Grows a New Head

Threat campaigns often are fleeting in nature, but such isn't the case with Uroburos, a PC-based espionage project that seems to have been ongoing since 2008, if not even longer than that. Uroburos is a professionally-designed, modular PC threat, and malware specialists and other persons in the PC security industry suspect that Uroburos is an unofficial side project of the Russian state. This assumption further is strengthened by the frequent use of Russian by Uroburos's developers, their adherence to a full-time work schedule, and the fact that nations neighboring Russia have seen more than their fair share of Uroburos attacks.

Uroburos may compromise all modern versions of Windows, including 64-bit environments, and uses rootkit technology to make identifying or removing Uroburos especially difficult. Although Uroburos is module-based, and may change its attacks with the addition or subtraction of additional components, malware researchers find it safe to anticipate the following problems in any Uroburos installation:

The use of backdoor vulnerabilities to control your PC via issuing system commands remotely.
Targeted embezzlement of potentially sensitive files.
Network traffic may be intercepted to collect passwords and other, equally privileged information.
Uroburos also may compromise additional PCs through any accessible networks through the exploitation of a P2P file-sharing function.

If an infected PC does not possess an Internet connection, Uroburos is capable of 'passing along' collected information to additional PCs until Uroburos reaches one that allows Uroburos to upload its spoils.

Stopping Uroburos from Wrapping Its Coils Around Your PC

Unlike simpler forms of threats than it, Uroburos's attacks are making their marks against high-profile entities, such as corporations, intelligence agencies and other, major players in both business and government. Employees at these institutions should be aware that Uroburos is designed to avoid being detected and rarely will have any symptoms that let you identify Uroburos, or any attacks that are related to Uroburos. Common infection routes for Uroburos rootkits include both wireless networks and removable peripherals, such as any typical USB device.

Any of the above targets of Uroburos infections already should have their own protocols in place for dealing with Uroburos and removing Uroburos from any compromised PCs. However, should any ordinary citizens find that their PCs also have been subjected to an Uroburos infection, malware researchers strongly recommend using nothing less than reliable anti-malware solutions for removing Uroburos. Like all rootkits, Uroburos should be assumed to be active, even from within Safe Mode, until specific steps have been taken to disable Uroburos and related PC threats.

Uroburos

Threat Metric

Uroburos: the Cyber Snake Grows a New Head

Stopping Uroburos from Wrapping Its Coils Around Your PC

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